Life Science Frontloading Lesson

Teacher:
Wendy Snyder
Boise State Writing Project / Subject:
Life Science / Grade:
3rd
Standards:
This is a frontloading lesson for a Life Science trimester inquiry unit. The goal of this lesson is to activate students background knowledge, experiences and beliefs. Students will repeat the frontloading activity during and at the end of the unit noticing the changes in their beliefs based on evidence and experiences gained hrough carefully sequenced inquiry lessons and activities.
LS4.D Biodiversity and Humans Populations live in a variety of habitats and changes in those habitats affect the organisms living there. (LS2-2-1)
Science Practices
Ask questions and defining problems Analyzing and interpreting data
Constructing explanations and designing solutions Engaging in argument from evidence
Obtain, evaluate and communicate information
Lesson Objective:
  • Students will complete an opinion survey asking questions related to Idaho organisms.Questions will include topics related to farming, fishing, hunting, recreation, andlogging
  • Student will comminicate their opinions to others with reasons/evidence to support theirthinikng.
  • Students will record and compare their ideas to those of theirpeers.
  • Students will use new ideas and evidence gained throughout the unit to revise and sharenew beliefs using evidence to support theirclaims.

Materials:
  • Opinion Survey with the following statements: Farmers should be able to use pesticides to protect their crops, building dams to hold back water for recreation and irrigation is a good thing, People should be able to hunt when and wherever the chose, People should be able to ride four- wheelers and morotcycles (ATV’s) where ever they want, It is good to cut down trees for houses, etc, and Families should be able to build a cabin wherever they wantto.
  • Four corners notecatcher
  • Graphs of data collected from opinionsurvey’s

Engage Opinion Survey
Teacher Will:
  • Ask students to complete an opinionsurvey before, during and after a life science unit onecosystems.
  • Clarify the statements to students asthey complete the survey (especially for the beforesurvey)
  • Answer questions posed by students for clarification.
/ Students Will:
  • Use background knowledge andexperiences to complete an opinion survey related to human impacts on organismsn and environments
  • Identify their opinion as: stronglyagree, agree, disagree or stronglydisagree
  • Ask clarifying questions to ensure they understand the questions (do they know definitions of words such as pesticides, irrigations?)

Explore
Teacher Will:
  • Have stuents complete a notecatcherone question at a time. Notes will include their opinion and reasonsn for theiropinion.
  • Encourage students to explain their justification theiropinions/beliefs
  • Encourage students discuss their opinions together
  • Observe and listen as studentsinteract
  • Ask probing questions to clarify students thinking whennecessary
  • Encourage students to rethink their ideas based on ideas frompeers
  • Encourage students to use text or experiential evidence whenpossible.
/ Students Will:
  • Complete note catchers based ontheir opinionsurvey’s
  • Include reasons/justifications for their ideas andbeliefs
  • Use text and experiencial evidence to support theirideas
  • Discuss their beliefs and opinions with peers having the same opinion level as them (Strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree)
  • Add notes to note cathcers based onwhat peerssaid
  • Use ideas from others to considerrevising their opinions and/or reasons fortheir
opinions.
Explain
Teacher Will:
  • Encourage students to explain claimsusing evidence from their discussions withpeers
  • Ask for justication (evidice) and clarification fromstudents
/ Students Will:
  • Small roups share their discussions with the class
  • Use text and experiential evidence to support ideas/opinions
  • Examine, argue andreasonaboutdiffering opinions presented by smallgroups
  • Backup reasoning with evidence from class discussions
  • Confirm or revise previous claims related to opinions

Ellaborate
Teacher Will:
  • Present graphical data for each question to the class
  • Ask probing questions to students to consider similarities and differences between questions and within questions. (Discussions and data will vary slightlywith each group of students and their level of experience with eachtopic
  • Pose question, “Do you think this data is true for all 3rdgraders/classes ofstudents?”)
  • Share data from other groups ofstudents
  • Encourage students to explain their justification for the data(evidence)
  • Observe and listen as studentsinteract
  • Share data from other groups ofstudents
  • Encourage students to explain their justification for the data(evidence)
/ Students Will:
  • Analyze and interpret class data related to eachquestion
  • Pose questions and justifacations related to the data (why do so many agree/disagree with a particularstatement)
  • Examine, argue andreasonaboutdiffering opinions
  • Backup reasoning with text and experiential evidence

Evaluate
Teacher Will:
  • Observe students as they: comminicate thinking with others, analyze data and make justifications to their opinionsusing text and experientialevidence
  • Look for evidence that students have changes in their thinking related to the issues beingdiscussed
  • Ask open ended questions, such as: “Why do you think…? What evidence do you have…? What do you know about…? How would youexplain…?”
/ Students Will:
  • Answer open-ended qestions by using observations, evidence and previously acceptedexplanations
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the effects of humans on organisms living in Idaho ecosystems
  • Evaluate and communicate their own progress and knowledge as they make initial claims (predictions) and in revising claims based text evidence from the life scienceunit and personalexperiences